Shrimp aquaculture is one of the largest seafood industries globally. Growing scientific understanding of crustacean sentience is beginning to influence welfare standards in shrimp production.
Shrimp welfare is an emerging area where the precautionary principle and growing scientific evidence are beginning to drive change in one of aquaculture's largest sectors. Eyestalk ablation — removing or crushing the eyestalks of female broodstock to force spawning — is a painful mutilation practiced at industrial scale. Alternative reproductive induction methods are available and increasingly viable. High-density intensive production causes chronic stress, immune suppression, and disease outbreaks. The Shrimp Welfare Project is working with producers in major producing countries including Vietnam, India, and Ecuador to develop practical welfare improvements. Electrical stunning before harvest provides more humane death than current practices of CO2 asphyxiation or boiling alive.